By MASANORI ISOBE/ Staff Writer
August 28, 2022 at 18:23 JST
A Japan Coast Guard vessel searches for victims of the April 23 sightseeing boat disaster off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido in May. Seen in the background is Kunashiri, an island whose sovereignty is disputed by Russia and Japan. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Japan has reached agreement with Russia to collect the bodies of two men and a woman who drowned when their sightseeing boat sank off the scenic Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido in April, sources said.
Based on a formal agreement struck recently, a Japan Coast Guard vessel is expected to travel to Korsakov, a southern city in Russia’s Far East island of Sakhalin, to take possession of the bodies in September.
The bodies of a man and a woman washed up in Kunashiri, one of the islands known in Japan as the Northern Territories that are controlled by Moscow but claimed by Tokyo. Another body was found in Sakhalin.
They were among the 26 people aboard the Kazu I pleasure boat that sank in stormy waters on April 23. There were no survivors.
Japanese government officials were informed by the Russian foreign ministry on Aug. 23 that a Coast Guard vessel should come and collect the three bodies from Korsakov, according to the sources.
The sources also said the Japanese side is arranging for a contractor to transfer the bodies found on Kunashiri to Sakhalin by air or by sea.
Russia informed Japan in May and June that the three bodies had been found.
Data obtained in a DNA analysis performed by Russian authorities matched those of the three individuals: Akira Soyama, who was a crew member, and a man and a woman who lived in Hokkaido.
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